Archive for July, 2010
Bad Credit – Repair Advice
If you need advice to repair your bad credit you have found a good place to start. It really isn’t as difficult as you might think, but it will require a little patience and a little time to find this bad credit repair advice on the internet. There is so much free advice on the internet and it is difficult to tell if the bad credit repair advice you are reading is correct.
Here is what to look for. You need to get your credit report. Don’t be fooled into buying everything else that the credit report companies offer you. You don’t need all that. You should think about Identity Theft protection though. I digress. Just get your credit report. That is all you need to start. Then, look it over and figure out what you need to dispute. Bad credit repair advice from an actual credit repair company might actually tell you to dispute anything negative on your report. You can do that if you are not sure that everything you are going to dispute is reporting 100% accurately. You don’t want to dispute anything reporting 100% accurately, but it would be difficult to prove that you knew it was 100% accurate. Once you have decided what to dispute, you need to write your dispute letters. This is a pain because it is time consuming and tedious. There is one website that can take a lot of the pain out of it because they allow you to use a free online application that is credit repair software. The site is creditblossom.com and it is completely free.
When you write your letters, you need to include the name of the account and the account number of the account that you wish to dispute in the dispute letter. You don’t want to dispute everything you are going to dispute with the credit reporting agency in one letter. You need to dispute 1 to 3 items per letter. That is all.
After you have written the dispute letters, you need to make sure you send them out correctly to the correct address. You can find these addresses in many places on the web and on the agencies’ websites. When you send the letters, make sure you include a couple forms of ID with the letters because the credit reporting agency wants to know for sure that it is you sending out the letters. If you don’t send them the proper ID, you will greatly slow down the process and you will have to follow up to the credit reporting agencies with your correct ID anyhow. So, make sure you send it correctly the first time. If you look on creditblossom.com’s site or blog, they have a good video that explains how to put together the ID you need to send with the letters.
New Form Required for First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit
The first-time homebuyers tax credit has been credited with stabilizing the anemic housing market during the latter part of 2009 and first quarter of 2010. Alas, the credit has been claimed by many who have no right to do so according to the IRS. Given this, the agency has announced it will be auditing many of the claims. It has also just issued a new form that people claiming the credit must file.
The new form in question is known as Form 5405. It was created pursuant to the legislation that extended and expanded the first round of the tax credit, legislation known as the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009. The new form fights the fraud problem by requiring homeowner’s to attach and file documentation regarding the purchase of the home they are claiming the credit for. Because of this, the taxpayers are barred from “e-filing” their tax returns. Also, the processing of any tax refunds they might expect will take longer, usually four to eight weeks.
So, what is involved in this Form 5405? The form flushes out the specific information of the purchase. The information must then be backed up with one of two types of attached documents substantiating the information claimed. The two types of documentation are:
A copy of the closing or settlement statement showing all the names and signatures of the parties to the agreement, sales price, the address of the property address, and date of purchase.
Newly Built – There is often not a settlement statement available for new home purchases. As a result, the IRS will accept a copy of the certification of occupancy. It must show the taxpayer’s name, address of the property and the date of certification.
The new version of the tax credit has been expanded to allow current homeowners to make a claim if they buy a new primary home and sell their old one. To make the claim, the taxpayer must show documented proof that they lived in the former primary home five out of the previous eight years or longer. Without said documentation, the claim will be denied. The appropriate documentation can include property tax or homeowner insurance records as well as copies of Form 1098 – mortgage interest statements.
The expanded first-time homebuyers tax credit is a real boon to those looking to buy. When taking advantage of it, just make sure you have the necessary documentation lined up in case the IRS decides to verify your claim.
Online Credit Score – Get A Credit Report Containing Your Scores
It is very important for every person to be aware of what is on his credit report.
In the long term, a bad credit score can cost someone thousands of dollars a year in high interest rates on mortgages, auto loans and personal loans. Sometimes you may not even know what is bringing your score down, maybe it is something that is easy to fix.
Aurora Lillo Editor of the “Credit Report And Scores” website — http://www.CreditReportAndScores.biz — pointed out;
“…You can get your full credit report online for FREE at websites like creditreport.com and freecreditreport.com. Monitoring your credit rating is a sure way to make it go up. These websites not only inform you of your score and what is making it good or bad, but they also explain how you can make your score go up! This will help anybody when it comes to getting approved for your dream house or even getting a student loan…”
Lenders are being very strict these days, and it is important to look like as little of a risk as possible. A high credit score will have lenders begging for your business, because it looks to them like you will never miss payments or default on your loan.
“…Employers can also use credit files to help pick candidates for jobs. If you are monitoring your file you will be more responsible and look better than the candidate that doesn’t know or doesn’t care that he has a bad credit score…” added A. Lillo.
Be sure to check your rating! It can help save you thousands of dollars as well as embarrassment of being declined for loans or apartments. It is very easy, and best of all it is FREE!! Check it out right now!
Further information about how to get a detailed credit report including scores and as often as you want by visiting; http://www.CreditReportAndScores.biz